


Love, Lost

by SGloomWalkerS



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Blood and Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24340156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SGloomWalkerS/pseuds/SGloomWalkerS
Summary: In which you, the reader, meet Link at a stable and tend to his wounds. The silent Hylian confuses you but there is an underlying feeling of recognition whenever you look into his eyes. Despite his best efforts, he grows close to you and eventually the thing he fears most happens; Love.using the map for accurate time stamps and occurrences.
Relationships: Link (Legend of Zelda) & Reader, Link/OC, Link/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	Love, Lost

It wasn’t unusual for travellers to join you at the stable cooking pot, but never once had someone sat down to ask about your cooking despite being in terrible shape with wounds so grave, the last thing they should worry about was food.

Link was tired, to say the least. It had been only a month after he had woken up in that strange chamber and only a week after Impa had dumped the reason for his existence on his shoulders. He’d recovered his first memory, went back to receive further instructions, was entrusted with the champion's tunic and now on his way to Zora’s domain after a brief encounter with a Zora woman who told him prince Sidon was waiting for him.

He could smell the wetlands stable before he could see it. Or, he could smell the delicious meat cooking there.

After riding across Eagus Bridge and clearing the Hila Rao Shrine on the Floret Sandbar island in the middle of Hylia river he went north at the second split in the road. The ruins to his right had no good treasure and it was getting late, but he knew the stable was just beyond the small gathering of trees to his left. That is what the map on his Shika slate told him at least.

The excited chatting of travelling merchants grew louder and the smell of food stronger. Link hadn’t eaten much once he went back to the road after his short stay in Kakeriko Village, so his stomach was rumbling loudly like it had a mind of its own. It irked Link a little as he was supposed to focus on the road ahead rather than his cravings. Sometimes he wished he could eat grass as his horse did.

He patted his abdomen twice and brought a finger to his lips, shushing his stomach with furrowed brows. To any bystander this displayed would have been rather amusing, but everyone was too busy turning in for the night. Everyone except the traveller that was cooking that goddess forsaken meat.

After hitching his horse, he inched closer to the cooking pot a little awkwardly, the sound of his steps drowned out by the sizzling ingredients. Link was not profound in social interactions. Whenever someone approached him in need of help, he’d answer in nods, short sentences and get the job done. He, however, had not approached someone in need of help, or food, himself before.

He was standing at the corner of the stable entrance now, thinking about how to tackle the situation as the orange glow of a shrine caught his eye. He’d have to clear that one tomorrow, but he really couldn’t do so on an empty stomach. So, he swallowed his pride and sat down on the second bench next to the pot.

You froze at the presence next to you that had so suddenly appeared, the now fully cooked meat skewer inches from your parted lips. Your eyes slid from the meat slowly over to the person next to you and stopped at said persons eyes. They were a mesmerizing cerulean but what caught your attention more was the state he was in. his blonde locks were a tangled mess atop his head, twigs sticking out left and right. Dirt covered his willowy almost underweight body. His collarbones and cheekbones protruded out from under his tanned skin just a bit too much. Besides that, he was also covered in cuts and bruises and looked no older than you. What was hidden by his blue tunic could be much worse.

You dropped your skewer in the dirt and swiftly reached for his hands, turning them palm up and frantically searching for a pulse. This boy looked mere seconds from death to you. “goddess Hylia what happened to you?” you enquired, not really wanting an answer as you looked him over.

Link took his arms from your grasp slowly as not to startle you and laid them limp in his lap. His eyes were downcast, hair shielding them from your gaze. “Jumped by bokoblins.” Was all he said, almost to quiet for you to catch. His voice sounded rough and he cleared his throat, his words almost awkward on his tongue.

You pursed your lips as you reached for his head, stopping short as he jumped away slightly but then touching the back of your hand to his forehead, brushing his golden locks to the side. He was coming down with a fever.

“What’s your name?” you asked attentively but softly, almost as if talking to a child. This boy looked like a deer locked onto by a guardian. To catch his eyes, you had to tilt your head slightly.

“Link” he answered just as uncertain as before but as his eyes fell onto the pot, he straightened himself up, childish look replaced by determination. “I wanted to ask you for some meat.” He said, looking at you now, statement accompanied by a slight tug at the corners of his lips. 

You almost choked on your own spit. Straightening out your back you hummed in response. “Help yourself…” you answered, remembering your own food you had dropped. “Oh, Moblins!” The swear left your lips as you picked up your dirt-covered skewer. Link almost felt bad as he took a bite out of his own but the satisfaction it brought to his black hole of a stomach was too distracting. A pout formed on your lips as you tried to salvage your meal.

Sighing, the meat was discarded over your shoulder in frustration, accompanied by a huff of frustration. Link eyed you curiously.

You placed your elbows on your knees and rested your jaw on your palms. “Tell me, Link” you started, gaze lost in the flames, “Was my cooking at least satisfactory?” You addressed him with your eyes too now. “I was experimenting with a new recipe.” With that, you smiled.

Link blinked, once, twice, confusion lacing his features, cheeks puffed out and filled with food. Then he nodded furiously. You chuckled at his reaction. “I’m glad.”

Once he finished you turned around to your backpack and rummaged around for medical supplies. As you did so, you explained that his wounds would fester and get infected if they weren’t treated now. Link was looking off to the sky when you turned towards him again. “My mother is a nurse. I know what I’m doing. Will you let me have a look at those?” you gestured to the deeper cuts across his collarbones. He merely nodded but made no move to make it easier for you.

You sighed quietly to yourself. There was no need to extend this sort of kindness to a stranger that also ate your food, but it did not sit right with you to let this boy go without medical attention. Link gritted his teeth at the sting but showed no other signs of discomfort. He was taking it like a champion.

“You won’t need any stitches in those. They aren’t so deep. Do you have any other wounds you’d like me to take a look at?”

“…No,” Link shook his head “Thank you.” Then without another word, he got up and walked towards the reception desk but before he rounded the corner, he stopped to thank you for the food, back remaining turned to you. What you didn’t know was that Link did not like receiving your care. It was nice, sure, but he was Hyrule's hero and had to be able to push through on his own. He didn’t have this mindset before he met Impa but with the return of some of his memories and the knowledge of his destined task he opted for playing the lone hero again.

Besides that, no one else had shown him this kindness and he preferred it this way. He did not like to get attached to someone and lose them again. He paid for a bed and as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

You had also rented a bed at the stable and awoke to the sound of Kass’ music, making a smile break up your sleepy face. His music was always nice to wake up to. You stretched and yawned, cracking open your eyes and looking around the stable. Link, who had been asleep on the other side of it, was already gone. It made you feel strangely melancholic.

With a groan you flung your feet over the edge of the bed, got up and straightened the sheets out, leaving behind a neat bed. Then your eyes landed on your pack. Your opened pack. Hurriedly you checked your rupies but none were missing and neither were your herbs. Checking the other pockets revealed that your needle and thread were gone. Confusion hit you.

You packed your stuff again and walked out into the light, shielding your eyes from the sun as you looked up into the sky. It was around 7:30 am. Scanning the surrounding area you spotted a horse and a familiar mop of blonde hair just a ways away in the forest. The horse was grazing peacefully as you marched over to Link who you suspected of stealing your medical supplies.

Your hands found your hips as you rounded the tree he was sitting against, jaw slack. Your shoulders slumped at the sight. Link, who was previously concentrated on sewing up the cut on his left shoulder, lifted his head in a slight panic to meet your concerned eyes. Then he bit his lip.

“You could have told me, you know.” You said softly. “I said I knew what I was doing. I was _offering_.”

Link took your words the wrong way and scrambled to his feet, an apology on his lips. “I was going to bring it back.” He said.

You sighed, taking in his appearance. He was shirtless (His bloodied tunic was drying nearby) but covered in old bandages which had different stains in them. They were all blood, you realized, only some looked quite old and hard turned a murky brown. Your brow furrowed and eyes hardened. This couldn’t be good.

Your silence caused Link to speak up again. “I’m sorry.” Was all he managed but you shushed him with a hand movement before he could even continue. He was slightly taken aback, raising an uncertain brow. “Are you… mad?” he tried carefully.

You’d pushed your lips out as you continued to stare at the stains, and you retrieved your needle and thread from Link wordlessly.

“Strip.” You demanded.

No reply.

“S T R I P: Take the bandages off.” Frustration showed in your eyes. Surprisingly, Link did as told without complaints. What lay underneath made you want to hurl your insides out, and you nearly did. It was bad.

Slowly you fell to your knees in front of him and swatted his arms away as they subconsciously tried to cover his wound up. There were a number of frustrated curses and groans you wanted to throw at him but when you looked up, he was looking away again. The emotion on his face was hard to catch, he was hiding it well, but you could not decipher it regardless.

You went to work, toughing your index and middle finger to the edges of the wound, trying to make sense of what weapon would leave such jagged edges. The only thing you could do for him now was clean it, which you did, but your mother would need to take s good look at it and fix him up. This was beyond your pay grade, which was technically nothing as Link wasn’t paying. He honestly did not look like he could.

You got back up again and addressed him. “Link, I need you to go see my mother.”

Link shook his head as he retrieved his tunic. “I’m fine.”

“No,” you followed him “You are _far_ from fine. You have a fever; your wound is infected. Have you even seen yourself? It is purple, yellow and even _black_ in some areas not to mention bleeding and there is puss coming out from under some barely formed scabs. How are you not doubled over in pain constantly? How are you not _dead_?”

That got his attention. He stopped dead in his tracks but did not turn around. “I don’t know.”

You mimicked his body language. “I’m sorry, Link.”

He started walking again. “But-!” you caught up and grasped his wrist tightly. “If you do not come with me, I’ll- I’ll knock you out and drag you there myself!” You shouted out in anger.

Links reaction was to chuckle which almost scared you. Then he turned around to challenge your gaze. “I’d like to see you try. Even in this state, I am more than capable of defending myself.” There was no malice behind his voice, and he knew he was just trying to convince himself.

You were dumbfounded. “Look I am not here to challenge your masculinity, but please just come with me.” Goddess, the air was awkward. Link sighed and dropped back into his usual demeanour, face moulding back into an expressionless state. Despite this, he struck you as surprisingly beautiful.

You don’t know what overcame him when he asked you “Where to?” to which you answered Hateno village. Link grimaced. That was far off the track, but he had already admitted defeat. You were right, he _was_ in pain and he was sick. The blonde decided that making a good recovery was the best course of action. As long as he steered clear from anything that could make you suspicious, such as shrines, and hid the slate well, you could part ways at the village without becoming any wiser as to who he actually was. He didn’t want to be hurt, and he didn’t want to hurt you.

The two of you had to share Links horse and despite your initial protests, you ended up behind him. It also took a while and almost falling off for you to hold onto Link. Not because you didn’t want to, but because you were scared of hurting him. He realized this and gently guided your hands to rest at his hips and he had to tell you it didn’t hurt.

It was safe to say that Link confused you. He didn’t talk much and when he did it sounded uncertain, like he wasn’t used to speaking at all. He clearly preferred to be alone, but he wasn’t bad company. Food was one of his favourite things, as he would show a lot more emotion when mentioning dinner than at any other time. Notwithstanding the pain, the Hylian took care of monsters rather effortlessly and he seemed quite protective of you despite being otherwise incredibly indifferent towards you.

You wanted to rip your hair out at the roots.

Right now, however, was not a good time to do that. Link had just saved a traveller named Leekah and she was receiving your medical attention. The two of you chatted, girl to girl, and she told you about the times you could still go on walks and how much she missed sitting on the bridges to watch the water. You nodded along with her and related to her story. She barely had anyone to talk to anymore as travellers found the roads too dangerous.

She thanked you and said she wanted to head back to Riverside Stable. At one pm you continued on from Horwell Bridge and guided her there as it was on your path to Hateno. You had contemplated asking Link about the shrine that resided close by the stable but decided against it.

At half-past four it started raining just as you took a left towards the forest of time, drenching the two of you to the bone. You’d wanted to raid the camp at the intersection because there was a cooking pot but with the weather like this, you couldn’t get a fire going anyway and decided against it. Evening had come when you reached the forest which was filled with Moblins, so Link spurred the horse on a little as to pass them quickly.

Suddenly, Link stopped completely and turned very thoughtful as he took in his surroundings.

“Uh, Link?” you asked carefully, leaning slightly to the right to try and look at him. You contemplated waving your hand in front of his face but he slid off the horse before you could make your decision and walked through the forest at a fast pace, towards the west side of Lake Kolmo.

From where he stood between the birch trees you had a clear view of the Kolmo Garrison ruins. Link bit his cheek. This looked an awful lot like one of Zelda’s pictures, but to check he had to take out the slate.

Then he suddenly realised he didn’t even know your name.

“Hey,” he turned to you “It occurs to me that I never enquired about your name…” he stated awkwardly, hand rubbing the back of his head again, fingers tangled in his now somewhat cleaner hair.

“Oh” you mouthed silently, eyes widened slightly. He was completely right. You looked up at him and told him your name which he repeated as if to test if it rolled off his tongue right. It sounded quite nice when others said your name. It had been so long. You realised then that you were really never meant to travel alone.

“Well,” he started and addressed you by name a little awkwardly “Could you maybe gather some firewood? I’d like to set up camp here.”

You looked at Link like he’d grown a second head or suddenly brought you Ganon's head. It was still dripping with rain, not to mention there was little to no shelter, but the desperation in his eyes urged you to comply.

Once your figure disappeared into the trees Link let out the breath he hadn’t known he held and went to retrieve his slate from the satchel. Sure enough, the picture was taken right here, 100 years ago and Link felt himself slip into the strange realm between reality and his lost memories again.

When you returned, you found Link glued to the spot, a weird slab of an unknown material clutched in his hands and a shocked expression on his face.

Link could feel cold and slightly wet stone press into his back as came to not much later, but the rain had stopped and the clouds were dusted a rusty orange, just like the swords that protruded from the ground around the garrison ruins. After you’d found him unresponsive you dragged his body up the one semi-intact piece of the building. It had to get him up the steps, but it had been worth it. He lay in the corner of the only two walls that were still standing.

“Welcome back.” You said gently, smiling down from where you were sitting at his feet, leaned against the wall close to the fire you started. “Glad to see you’re still with the living, mister hero.”

You caught his attention as he shot up into a sitting position, winced and clutched his stomach. Quickly you scrambled over to him and guided him back down to rest his head on one of your spare tunics. “You shouldn’t move like that yet!” you scolded him.

Linked just groaned in response and tried to steady his breathing so that the wound wouldn’t hurt so much. “I didn’t mean to offend you with what I said, I don’t know what came over me.” You then apologised quickly, bringing a hand to the side of your face as you looked away in confusion.

“It’s okay.” You heard Link say. “It… It isn’t offensive.”

You hummed and said a quiet ‘okay’. Suddenly the mood shifted as Link's stomach churned.

“Do you want some baked apples?”

“…Yes, please.”

**Author's Note:**

> I left with Link at around 8 in the morning and let the horse follow the road at a medium pace, as an injured person probably doesn't want to ride much faster and then I came across the traveller on the bridge and decided to write about her. I also did not mean to put in the memory part but as I passed the trees I suddenly remembered why I went here in my playthrough and just sort of assumed Link would recognise the trees too and prioritise the recovery of his memories over keeping his identity a secret/ avoiding questions.


End file.
